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New factories to raise bar for domestic drugs
Two medicine production plants that began construction in Da Nang yesterday will be pioneers in their field in Viet Nam when they begin operations next July.
The factories are being built by the Danapha-Nanosome Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Co (Danasome).
The Nanosome Technology Factory will be the first of its kind in Viet Nam to employ nanopharmaceutical technology, according to Nguyen Quang Tri, chairman of Danapha.
The other, the Oriental Medicine Factory, will also be the first maker of oriental drugs to adopt good manufacturing practices (GMP) standards.
The Nanosome Technology Factory will have several workshops and a research and development centre to manufacture a number of high-quality Liposomal pharmaceuticals, with Liposomal Estoposite, used for cancer treatment, being the main product.
The factory will also produce Glipizome, Amlodisome and lovastasome that respectively treat diabetes, highblood pressure and cardiovascular diseases.
"We will offer Vietnamese consumers drugs of a high quality at lower prices compared to imported ones," said Tri.
US company Affordable Quality Pharmaceuticals (AQP), which has a 24 per cent stake in Danosome, will transfer the nano technology to the new factory.
Danapha and Viet Nam Pharmaceutical Corp hold 51 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, in the US$3.2 million Danosome.
Nano technology refers to the study and use of nano-sized molecules sized 80 thousand times smaller than the thickness of a strand of hair. Nano materials can contain and transport drugs and "laminate and portrait" itself in living tissues.
The AQP will transfer the product’s intellectual property rights to Danosome and support marketing campaigns outside Viet Nam. It will give Danosome exclusive rights to develop and trade Liposomal products produced using nanopharmaceutical technology all over the world except Canada and the US.
Danosome will also become the original manufacturer of Liposomal products for AQP’s sales in the US and Canada.
Conventional drugs target every cell that divides rapidly, so they destroy both diseased and healthy cells without differentiation. This leads to high-dose treatment and harmful side effects.
Nano technology creates a series of physical systems with sizes ranging from a few to 250 nanometres, which can be used to transport drugs to any part of the body with an appropriate dose and at desired times.
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